Stabilizer for locomotive cranes



Dec. f6',-, .1927. 1,651,656

- G. B. YERKES STABILIZER FOR LOCOMOTIVE CRANES Filed Sept. 18, 1925' 2-SheetsSheet 1 www g Dec. 6, 192?.

cs. B. YERKES STABILIZ ER FOR LOCOMOTIVE CRANES Filed Sept. 18. 1925Sheets-Sheet 2 GEoRs-nm YERKns, on coRAoPoLIs; rnlvnsy avziivregrrssrenon omlin MGMYLER resist INTERSTATE COMPANY, or BEDFORD, oH Io ACQRPQRA'LION or OHIO.

STABILIZER non rooolvrorrvn cRANEs.

Application filed September 18, 1925 Serial No. 557L062.

. present invention relates parti cularlyv to a stabilizerfor locomotivecranes but is applicable generally tocarriages which travelalong'trackways to prevent lateraltipping of thecarriagesn a ..-Whenalocomotive crane is being p'erated ;with its .loadcarrying boom;projecting laterally to one side .or the other of the supportingacarriage, it is necessaryywhen heavy loads arebeing :handledto' provide means for preventing the supportingwcanriage from tippingover.. This has heretofore been accomphshed by providing ground engagingstruts 1 onthe-carriage or K boom .or

by clamping the carriage to the. track. rails.

In so faras I am aware, the stabilizing devices heretoforeemployed-havenot been such as .wpuldpermit of free travel of thecranealong the trackway; and itfis the principal objectof this invention toprovide'a.-.stabiliz-' ing device which is normallyfreefrom.-engagementv with thei -trackway and :permits the crane'totravel freely alongthetrackway,

thedevice being automatically operated to hold thewcarriage to the trackwhenever: a load sufficient to tip the carriage is imposed on ;the.boom. I r

N -M0re specifically -.it i s the object 'of the present invention toprovide means controlled; by; laterally tilting. movements .of. acarriage; on a railway track for- .,-automatically clamping the carriageto the track to revent its tipping over. z f With the above'and otherobjects in view, the invention may besaidto comprise the device.illustrated in "the accompanying drawings hereinafter described andparticularlyset forth in the appended1claimstogether with suchvariations and modifications thereof that will be apparentto-one skilledin the art to which the invention appertains. Reference should be had totheaccolnpanying drawings forming apart of this specification in whichFig.1 is anend elevation of a locomotive crane to which the. inventionis applied, the boom of the crane 'being shown-in a position extendinglaterally from the carriage; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragwheels 7 which trinentary side elevation of the carriage shownguone.oflthetrucks' and therail clamping devlce. associated therewith; Fig. 3 is a front elevationof .one of theJrail clamps; Figs; 4 and 5. are sectional detailviewsshowing the pressure. controlling valve in normal andshiftedpositions, The present invention-is designed espe cially. for useupon" locomotive. cranes and Fig. --1 of the drawing shows a "locomotivecrane..in: whichythe carriagefbody 1- hasi-a turntable2 thereonlu'ponwhich is mounted the. house: 3' inu which the crane operating.mechanism.isfenclosed. Theboom 4 extends upwardly. and. outwardly;- fromthe turntable an.d..has..ail ioist line 5 suspended fron1..its 6 I outer.end bymeans of which the loads may be liftednflheLcarriage consists ofthe body 1- and asuitable .numben of trucksfi having avel upon the rails8 of the trackway. 1. .1. ."i -.T.he structure so. 1 far fdescribed isall old and well-known, the present invention being a. mechanism mountedupon the carriage for I preventing the carriage from being "tipped overheavyloads supported upon the outer. end of the boom; While the deviceis particularly useful on locomotive cranes, -it is applicable toanycarriage travelling upon a railway track 'where itiis desirable toprovide meansfor,preventinglateral tipping of 0 the carriage. :Adj acentthe K opposite sides thereof and directly above the track rails' 8,

[piston .10. thereinprovidedwith a downwardly, extending pistonlodllfWlllCll ex- 7 tendsthrou'gh and. has a fluid tight fit inthelower: end of the cylinder." Each piston rod; 11 hasag forkedlowerend 12 inwhich railclamping jaws 13 are pivoted on -ahorizontal pivotpin 14: which extends through the forkedend 12 and through thej-aws 13intermediate the cnds thereof The lower endsof:the-clamping .jaws: 13are formed to fit over the opposite sideszof the ball of the rail 8 and.the. upper... ends,thereof are connected to chains 15 which aresuspended by eye-bolts 16 secured to the under side of the body 1. WVhenthe piston 16 is held in its uppermost position, the clamping jaws 13are supported entirely above the top of rail 8 and the jaws are held bygravity in open position. When piston 10 is moved downwardly the pistonrod 11 carries the pivot pin 14 of the clamping jaws clownwardly towardsrail 8, and since the upper ends of the jaws are held agamst' downward,movement by the chains 15, the jaws J13 will move to closed position asthe piston.

is moved downwardly, the jaws being so mounted with respect to the rail8 that they will grip the ball of the rail between them when they areclosed by the downward movement of the piston.

Means is provided for supplying and exhausting pressure to and fromeither side of the piston 10, pressure from the train air pipe beingemployed for actuating the clamps. Each cylinder hasa pipe hne 17connected to the lower end thereof and a pi e line 18 connected to theupper end thereo the pipe 17 leading to the lower portion of acylindrical valve casing 19 and the pipe 18 lead ng to the upper portionof said casing. A pipe 20 leads from the train air line to the centralportion of the casing 19, and the pressure to the cylinder 9 iscontrolled by a spool valve 21 slidably mounted within the casing '19;The valve 21 has cylindrical upper and lower end portions 22 and 23which have a fluid tight fit within the casing 19 and an intermediateportion 24 of reduced diameter which forms an annular air chamberbetween the end portions 22 and 23 as shown in Fig. 4. The valve 21,when in its lowermost position, establishes communication between thepressure pipe 20 and the pipe line 17 so that air under pressure isdirected to the lower end of cylinder 9 to move the'piston 10 up wardlyand hold it in its uppermost posithe position shown in Fig. 4 air canescape through the air pipe ltthrough the upper portion of the cylinder9 into the casing 19 i above the valve while pressure is being suppliedto the lower end of the cylinder. WVhen the valve 21 is in its uppermostposition as shown in Fig. 5, air may escape through the pipe line 17from the lower portion of the cylinder 9 into the casing 18 beneath thelowerend of the valve 21. It will be apparent that if the valve 21 beheld in its lowermost position shown in Fig. 4, pressure position shownin Fig. 4,but will be automatically shifted to its uppermost positionshown in Fig. 5 whenever there is a tilting movement of the carriagetoward the side of the track opposite that upon which the controllingvalve and the clamp controlled thereby are mounted. To this endthevalve21 is provided with an upwardly projecting stem 25 which has two fixedcollars 26 thereon which receive between them a projecting arm or lug 27fixed to' a cross beam 28 carried by the body 1 of the carriage. Theopposite ends of the cross beam 28 extend into the frames of theopposite trucks6 and are supported upon'suitable springs 29 carried bythe trucks. .The valve 21 is normally held in its lowermost position butif the carriage body has a lateral tilting movement with respect to thetrucks which takes a portion of the weight from the springs 29 on oneside of the carriage, the valve stem 25 will move upwardly with the beam28 and shift the Valve from the position shown in Fig. 4 to positionshown in Fig. 5, whereupon the pressure is exhausted from the under sideof the piston 10 and pressure is admitted from above the top thereof sothat the rail clamps will instantly move to clamping position inengagement with the rail 8. clamps, on one side of the carriage are op-The clamp, or

erated independently of those upon the other side, and the clamps oneach side are controlled by a shifting of'weight causing a portion ofthe pressure on the-springs 29 at one side of the carriage to berelieved sufficiently to permit the springs to lift the end of the crossbar engaged thereby. 'Assuming that the crane is positioned as shown inFig. 1, if a heavy load be imposed on the hoist cable 5. the center ofgravity will be shifted to a point to the left of the left hand rail 8and would cause the carriage to tip over if means were not provided forchecking the tipping movement of the carriage. However, whenever such acondition occurs, the pressure upon the springs 29 on the right handside ofthe carriage is relieved and these springs push the right handend of the cross beam 28 upwardly operating the controlling valve 21 andsetting the clamp or clamps on the right hand side of the carriage,securely hold the carriage against tipping. If the boom be swunglaterally "the-center 'of "gravity ofthe loaded eraneov' r the track thestabilityof the carriage will be reestablishecl and the controllingvalve will be pushed downwardly to its animal j v H I h, j

a carriage adapted to t'r'aveljalong arai'lway position causing theclamp or clamps to be instantly re-le'ased from the rails and leavingthe carriage free to travel along the tracks way. 7

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travelupon a trackwvay, said carriage having a truck, and a body yieldablysupported on the truck, means movably mounted on the carriage andengageable with the trackway to prevent ti p.- ping of the carriage,means for normally holding said trackway engaging means in a positionclear of the trackway, and means controlled by a movement of the bodywith respect to the truck for moving said engag ing means intoengagement with the trackwa 2 In a device of the character described, acarriage adaptedto travel upon a railway track, said carriage having atruck and a body yieldably supported on the truck, a rail clamp mountedon the carriage, means for actuating the clamp, and meansoperated upon arelative movement between the body andtruck for controlling said clampactuating means.

3. In a device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travelupon a railway track and comprising a truck, a body, and springsinterposed between the body and truck at opposite sides thereof, avertically movable member carried by the body, a clamp having railclamping jaws carried by said member, means for normally holding saidmember in elevated position and said jaws in open position abovetherail, and means controlled by an upward movement of the side of thebody carrying the clamp away from the truck for lowering said clampcarrying member and closing said jaws on the rail.

4. In a device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travelupon a railway track and comprising a truck, a body,.and springsinterposed between the body and truck at opposite sides thereof, a railclamp on the carriage, means for normally holding the clamp clear of therail, and means controlled by a lateral tilting movement of the body onthe truck for moving the clamp into gripping engagement with the rail.

5. In a device-of the character described, a carriage adapted to travelupon a railway track, a vertically movable member mounted on thecarriage, a pair of rail gripping jaws pivoted to said member, means forraising and lowering said member, means connected to the carriage and tosaid jaws for closing jthejjaws' dat n scammed, more get t atof, andmeans operable upon; a: ,tll'tm'g'movement of thecarri'age forcontrolling ment onedmeans.

'6. In a device of track, a vertically disposed fiuiuprssare cylindermounted on the carriage, a piston I in the cylinder having a rodextending through the lower end of the cylinder, a

pair of rail clamping jaws pivoted tothe lower end of the piston rod,links connecting 1 said jaws to the carriage to cause the jaws to closeduring downward movement thereof, means for admitting pressure to andexhausting pressure from the cylinder to actuate the piston, and meansoperable upon a tilting movement of the carriage for con-- trolling saidpressure admitting means- 7. In a device of the character described, acarriageadap ted to travel along a railway track, a vertically disposedfluid pressure cylinder mounted on the carriage, a piston in thecylinder havinga. rod extending through the lower end of the cylinder, apair ofvrail clamping jaws pivoted to the lower,

end of the piston rod, links connecting said jaws to the carriage tocause the jaws to close during downward movement thereof, and meanscontrolled by tilting movements of the carriage for admitting-pressureto and exhausting pressure from the cylinder to actuate the piston.

8. In a device of the character described,

a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway track, said carriage havmgatruck and a body yieldably supported on'the truck, a rail clamp on thecarriage, fluid pressure clamp actuating means, and means responsive torelative movements between the body and truck for controlling saidactuating means.

9. In a. device of the character described, a carriage adapted to travelupon a railway track, said carriage having a truck and a body yieldablysupported on the truck, rail clamps upon opposite sides of the carriage,a fluid pressure actuating means for each clamp, and separate means uponopposite sides of the truck for controlling the rail clamps, saidcontrolling means being operated upon an upward movement of the body onthe side on which the controlling means is located to cause the clamponsaid side to be actuated. r r

10. In a device'of the character described, a carriage adapted'to travelupon a railway track, said carriage having a truck and a body yieldablysupported to the truck, rail clamps upon oppositesides ofthe carriage,

a fluid pressure cylinder for actuating each clamp, a valve controllingthe supply of pressure to said cylinder, and means resp0nsive torelative movements between the truck and body for operating said valve.

11. In a device of the character described,

' a fluid pressure cylinder for actuating each signature.

a carriage adapted to travel upon a railway two relatively movable partsone operatively track, said carriage having a truck and a connected tothe truck and the, other to the body yieldably supported on 'the truck,rail body. 7 f b V clamps upon opposite sides of the carriage, Intestimony whereof, I hereunto aifix my clamp, and a valve controllingthe supply of I I y pressure to said cylinder, said valve having vGEORGE B. YERKES.

